Sweet Potato Beignet

I originally posted pics of these beignets back in October 2012 but I was too lazy to post the recipe.  They are teeny tiny little morsels of doughnutty yumminess rolled in cinnamon sugar with the semi-redeeming quality of being filled with beta carotene.  To those of us on the eastern side of the Atlantic the whole sweet potato thing can seem like too much of a gastronomic oxymoron but since I first discovered them making baked sweet potato fries, I have become a huge fan in either savoury or sweet dishes. I believe that these are from the Louisiana part of the world by way of the french colonists.

The recipe calls for vegtable oil but avoid the olive oils and other strong flavoured oils because it will ruin the flavour.  Suggestions would be Rapeseed oil or sunflower oil.

 Serve with custard, syrup, maple sweetened marscapone, ice-cream.  The recipe says it serves 6 but its hard to count them if their eaten just as they come out of the pan.

3 small sweet potatoes
300g sugar
3 eggs
190g Plain Flour
2tbsp baking powder
2.5tbsp Cinnamon
pinch of salt
pinch of nutmeg
vegtable oil for frying

1. Preheat the oven to 170C.  Peel and chop the sweet potatoes then pop them in the microwave for 5 minutes with a little water at the bottom of the dish to help them steam.  Then into the oven they go until they are soft and mashable.  Then mash away to your hearts content and let them cool.
2. Beat the eggs sugar and sweet potatoes together in a big bowl (you'll need this because this is the bowl that you will add the dry ingredients to).
3. Heat the cooking oil to 180C 
4. Sift together the dry ingredients - Flour, baking powder, .5 tbsp cinnamon, salt and nutmeg.  Fold them in bit by bit using a silicone spatula.
5. Using two tablespoons spoon drop generous tablepoons of the mix into the hot oil.  Flip them to ensure an even tone.  Cook in batches and don't overfill the the fryer (or the pot with the oil in it) or it will reduce the temperature of the oil too much and you will have soggy beignets.
6. Rescue them when they are cooked evenly and drain on some kitchen paper.
7. Roll in cinnamon sugar and eat, and eat and eat and......

Recipe pilfered and adapted from Food & Wine Magazine it's one of Donal Skehans